Daily Archives: February 19, 2017

A Private Island in the Bahamas for $8.9 Million – Caribbean Journal

Posted: February 19, 2017 at 11:38 am

In the market for a private island?

Right now, the Bahamas is easily the regions number one private island destination, with a wide portfolio of islands and cays on the market.

And if youre looking for something a bit different, its time to think about the Berry Islands, the largely unknown archipelago of the southern Bahamas.

Theyre home to Bird Cay, a 250-acre island at the southern end of the Berry chain, about 30 minutes by air from Nassau.

Bird Cay has 4.75 miles of water frontage, with sandy beaches, turquoise waters, trails, palm trees and coconut groves.

Yes, you can land a seaplane here.

HG Christie, which has the listing on the property, says one could even construct a few golf holes on the island.

Bird Cay is also just a short distance from Chub Cay, home to a private resort club, restaurants and a 5,000-square-foot airstrip with regular and chartered flights to Nassau.

This is quite simply a tropical paradise tailor-made for a business retreat, a family compound, or a stunning island resort., the brokerage says.

See the full listing here.

CJ

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A Private Island in the Bahamas for $8.9 Million - Caribbean Journal

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Immigrant Round-ups Stir Fears – Consortium News

Posted: at 11:37 am

During last falls campaign, Donald Trump vowed to get rid of the bad hombres among the 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., but recent raids appear far less targeted, reports Dennis J Bernstein.

By Dennis J Bernstein

President Donald Trump is keeping his promise to go after undocumented people in the United States, with recent reports of sweeps by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (or ICE) sending waves of fear through the Latino and other immigrant communities in California, Texas and Arizona.

Trump had justified the need for such round-ups as necessary to get rid of bad hombres but immigrant advocates say the raids are indiscriminate, rounding up as many undocumented people as possible.

It is now clear the Trump Administration is not concerned with public safety, said California State Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin De Leon. They are only focused on ripping hard-working men, women, and children from their families and communities. Mass deportations will not make us safer, instead they will simply undermine our states economy.

De Leon issued a statementcritical of ICE actions on Feb. 10, saying he had been misled by ICE assurances that refugee advocates had exaggerated when they claimed that more than 100 people had been arrested in raids across Southern California a day earlier.

I appreciate that ICE finally disclosed details about their recent raids, but stunned to learn that ICEs public comments made [on Feb. 9] were blatantly false, said De Leon, noting that ICE later confirmed that it had arrested 160 people.

De Leon, perhaps the most influential elected Latino official in the state of California, called on ICE to work more effectively with the communities of California that De Leon represents. If you want to ensure ongoing safety of the public and law enforcement personnel, my recommendation is to drop the mass deportation threats roiling our communities and instead focus strictly on dangerous felons, he said.

Among the groups most targeted for mass deportation are the undocumented day laborers and domestic workers who work the fields and clean the major hotels and the houses of the rich and famous.

Chris Newman is Legal Director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network or NDLON, which represents tens of thousands of day laborers from coast to coast. I spoke with him earlier this month.

Dennis Bernstein: Could you talk about the concerns that NDLON now has, in terms of the unfolding, what weve seen already with these anti-immigrant directives, coming from the President of the United States and the mass sweeps that have followed?

Chris Newman: Well, its certainly far worse than we would have imagined, even days before the president was inaugurated. And I think that theres no question that the Trump administration is trying to terrorize people, trying to terrorize immigrants, trying to terrorize the country, in an effort to try to assert legitimacy for the administration and to try to exercise executive authority.

I do think, again, they are going out of their way to conflate anxieties that people have about the economy, about terrorism, about globalization. Theyre doing their best to sort of bundle them all up. And the reality is that the real world implications for immigrants are quite dire. And, so, you are quite right. We are left in a position of reacting as the president appears to be making good on many of his campaign promises.

DB: Now, weve seen a couple of high profile cases of them demonstrating their resolve to intimidate and deport. Of course, here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there was a case where ICE showed up at a daycare center, a medical center, and said they had the wrong address. They were looking for a rapist. But all the kids in the daycare center were terrorized.

We now have seen the arrest of a woman who was in the country 21 years, taken out, essentially, out of the arms of her family. Are you hearing more and more about intimidation, about things happening? Could you give us a sense of how that might be reverberating in the community that you represent?

CN: I think that youve put your finger right on it. These actions are a deliberate effort to intimidate and terrorize the community. One of the things I think is commonly misunderstood about the organized xenophobes, the people who are really the propelling force of the Trump campaign: their goal is to limit the foreign born, non-white population of the United States. And deportation is only a piece of how they hope to bring about that agenda. In fact, they want to bring about a far more sophisticated and nefarious plan to effectuate a reduction of the foreign-born, non-white population through attrition.

And so, the idea is to make life sufficiently miserable for immigrants, such that they voluntarily go home. The tipping line that people know about is the South deportation. And, also, such that people are deterred from coming to the United States. And within that context, and within that broader agenda that they have, deportation/criminal enforcement is just one tool. Their goal is to cut access to education, to jobs, to the means of survival, and also to instill fear. And within that context the act of showing courage and resistance contravenes the strategy.

You can look to the deportation of Guadalupe in Phoenix as an example of the brutality of the Trump policy. But you can also look to the way in which the community responded in Phoenix, and the courageous protests as a sign of resistance. And it will also be the new normal.

CN: I think that ICE should be called to task for their lack of transparency in all of these enforcement operations. ICE public information officers or spokespeople have been intentionally obfuscating, precisely to try to create, I think, a sense of chaos, confusion, and unrest. And, to me, it seems totally unacceptable that, number one, ICE refuses to provide details of enforcement operations. And, number two, that that seems to be an acceptable answer from the mainstream press.

I think ICE must be compelled to answer how many people were detained, and why and where. And, I think, reporters should not accept No for an answer. It cannot be the new normal that the largest federal interior law enforcement agency does not provide basic information about raids. Particularly when we have a president who has intentionally engaged in a strategy of well call it the disruption, or the intentional, sort of, sowing of chaos, that theyve been involved in. Yes, so I dont have details, but ICE should be providing them, forthwith.

DB: Now, let me ask you, on that policy: is this now a pattern in practice, of not saying whos being arrested, why theyre being arrested, or where theyre taken? Is this a new intensification? How would you describe that?

CN: I would describe it as sort of an unrestrained tendency thats been with the agency since its inception. As you know, weve discussed on your program before, ICE was involved in intentional dishonesty in the rolling out of the so-called Secure Communities Program, which coerced local police to become front line law enforcement agencies.

And this is just not my view, as an attorney with a point of view as an advocate. I mean, this was the view of members of Congress and federal judges starting with a freedom of information request. ICE was intentionally involved in a deliberate strategy of disinformation about that program. And for many years, organizations like mine and others have raised questions about whether ICE is, in fact, a rogue law enforcement agency.

But, now, you have a rogue law enforcement agency essentially presided over by a rogue president. And so, I think that the types of tactics of propaganda and, again, misinformation that ICE has been involved in, are now currently, unrestrained.

And so, I do think it is incumbent upon the concerned community members to do, and to look at what Phoenix did, and look at what Puente, in Arizona, did in response to Guadalupes raid. And we need to model and replicate that type of courage and response.

But, I also think that members of the press are going to have to be more vigilant at holding ICE accountable for the dissembling way in which theyre sowing confusion about these enforcement operations.

DB: And, just finally, are you all taking precautions? Are there more meetings? Are there more informational gatherings? Are people being presented with more ways of protecting themselves? How do, you know, to be alert, what to do when they arrive. Is that part of whats going on now in terms of the defense against this?

CN: Without a doubt. I mean, we have one of the most, or the most, xenophobic senator is now the top cop in the United States, in Jeff Sessions, as the new Attorney General. And [it] is now, I think, imperative that people when you have somebody who has sort of forecasted his intent to roll back civil rights protections that have been won over the last several decades, its imperative that people take it upon themselves, not just to prepare to defend themselves, but also to defend constitutional values that have been fought for and won over generations.

And so, yes, indeed, across the country there are high-level know your rights informational seminars, such that immigrants are being prepared to defend themselves and to defend the constitution.

Dennis J Bernstein is a host of Flashpoints on the Pacifica radio network and the author of Special Ed: Voices from a Hidden Classroom. You can access the audio archives at http://www.flashpoints.net.

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Ask Ethan: How Can I Travel Through Space Without Getting Into Trouble? – Forbes

Posted: at 11:35 am


Forbes
Ask Ethan: How Can I Travel Through Space Without Getting Into Trouble?
Forbes
Whether it was NASA, Star Trek or Einstein that first inspired you, space travel offers some incredible possibilities for us all. The idea of rocketing or beaming into space and traveling interplanetary or interstellar distances is a dream many of us ...

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DotNetNuke Skins – Home

Posted: at 11:33 am

DotNetNuke has traditionally been packaged with default skin packages pre-installed. The installation packages for those skins are available here.

Dark Knight Skin from DNN 06.02.05 Dark Knight Regular Skin package Dark Knight Mobile Skin package

The Minimal Extropy Skin & Container from DNN 5.6.3 Minimal Extropy

The following Skins are currently available: DNN-Blue* DNN-Gray*

These are skins from the DNN 3.1.13 package: DNN-Green* DNN-Red* DNN-Yellow*

Dnn Extropy Beta skin This skin is only here for reference, it is currently not supported and not for use in a production environment. If you find any issue with this skin, please log them in the issues tracker (here, not in the DNN tracker). If we get enough feedback, we will release a "stable" version of this skin. DNN-Extropy Beta*

The skin with the vertical menu might not work in DNN versions above 4.4. You can replace the Treeview menu with the NAV skin object and the DNNTreeNavigationProvider. (read the skinning documentation for more info)

Optimized / Clean Default.css Beta Version This is a beta release of an optimized/cleaned up version of default.css (Contributors are: Cuong Dang, Timo Breumelhof, and Salar Golestanian).

Feel free to report bugs and provide feedback to make this an official version for the next release. Default CSS

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Ascension Parish Crime Briefs – Weekly Citizen

Posted: at 11:32 am

Former APSO deputy arrested for Simple Battery

James Atkins II, 34, a former Ascension Parish Sheriffs Deputy, was arrested on Feb. 14 and booked into the Ascension Parish Prison on one count of Simple Battery. The charges stem from an investigation, which was conducted into a report taken by Gonzales Patrol Officers from Feb. 8, where officers responded to a disturbance call made by Atkins at his residence located at 910 Janice Ave.

On Feb. 9, one of the parties involved in the altercation at his residence, whom was gone prior to officers arrival on Feb. 8, came into the police department and reported additional information, which lead to the arrest of Atkins.

He voluntarily surrendered in compliance with the warrant, which was issued for his arrest by the Gonzales Police Department.

Prairieville man indicted on charges including First Degree Rape

On Feb. 13, an Ascension Parish Grand Jury returned a True Bill of Indictment on Stephen Janis, 55, of Prairieville, on the charges of First Degree Rape, False Imprisonment with a Dangerous Weapon, Aggravated Assault with a Firearm and Second Degree Battery.

Janis is accused of raping, beating and holding a woman against her will in November 2016. Investigators with the Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office were dispatched to a local hospital where they made contact with the victim who advised them of the incident.

Assistant District Attorney Shawn Bush is the lead prosecutor on this case.

Gonzales man receives sentence after 2015 burglary

On Feb. 14, David Holcombe of Gonzales, age 25, pled guilty to the charge of Simple Burglary. Holcombe was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Phil Maples, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Thomas Kliebert. The guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors following a 2015 burglary.

On Oct. 19, 2015, Ascension Parish Sheriffs Deputies were dispatched to a residence on Bayou Narcisse Road in Gonzales in reference to a burglary. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with the homeowner who advised that some items were missing from two vehicles parked under the car port. The homeowner advised that the home is equipped with security cameras.

Investigators reviewed the video surveillance and were able to view the suspect entering the two unlocked vehicles and gaining entry into the garage through a side door. The homeowner noted several miscellaneous items that were missing. Investigators released a portion of the video surveillance to the media and shortly after received a Crime Stoppers tip that the individual in the video Holcombe.

Investigators also located a DNA sample on the scene that was consistent with Holcomes DNA profile. Holcombe was arrested and transported to the Ascension Parish Jail where he confessed to the burglary and was booked accordingly.

Upon entering a guilty plea to the above charge, as per the plea agreement with prosecutors, Judge Kliebert ordered that Holcombe be committed to the Louisiana Department of Corrections for a period of 10 years with credit for time served.

New Orleans man pleads guilty to Ascension bank fraud

On Feb. 15, Frank Nelson of 7543 Tricia Court, New Orleans, 60, pled guilty to Bank Fraud. Nelson was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Phil Maples, and presiding over the matter was the Honorable Judge Thomas Kliebert.

On June 3, 2015, deputies with the Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office were dispatched to a Prairieville bank regarding the cashing of a fraudulent check. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with an employee who advised that on May 5, 2015, a black male subject entered the bank and cashed a check in an amount exceeding $2,000. The check appeared to be issued by a Baton Rouge business to a subject by the name of Frank Nelson.

It was later determined that the checks were homemade. Investigators viewed surveillance video and were able to positively identify the individual cashing the check as Nelson. An arrest warrant was issued, and he was subsequently arrested on May 17, 2016. Nelson was transported to the Ascension Parish Jail where he was booked accordingly.

Per Judge Kliebert, sentencing was deferred pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation. Nelson faces up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Gonzales Man Pleads Guilty to Burglary of Local Church Storage Building

On Feb. 15, Michael Duplessis, 34, of 43017 Weber City Road, Gonzales, pled guilty to Simple Burglary. Duplessis was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Phil Maples, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Thomas Kliebert. The guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors following a 2016 burglary.

On July 13, 2016, Ascension Parish Sheriffs Deputies were dispatched to Holy Rosary Church in St. Amant regarding a burglary. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with a church employee who advised that he was doing maintenance around the church when he made contact with an unknown white male subject.

The subject advised that he was looking for the food bank. The employee continued to work around the church after directing the subject to the food bank. A short while later, the employee went to the storage shed where he observed that a tool box containing miscellaneous tools was missing.

Deputies were able to identify the unknown subject as Duplessis. Deputies were able to make contact with a relative of Duplessis who advised that he was in possession of the tool box in question and had gotten it at the church.

He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail. It should be noted that Duplessis has two prior burglary convictions.

Upon entering a plea of guilty to the above charge, as per the plea agreement with prosecutors, Judge Kliebert ordered that Duplessis be committed to the Louisiana Department of Corrections for a period of 10 years with credit for time served.

Gonzales Man Pleads Guilty to Burglary and Theft Charges

On Feb. 13, Bret Millet, 52, of 14490 Lake Crossing Drive Gonzales, pled guilty to Simple Burglary, Theft of Goods Valued at $1500 or more, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Millet was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Amy Colby, and presiding over this matter was the Honorable Judge Jason Verdigets. This guilty plea was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors following a 2015 residential burglary.

On July 6, 2015, Ascension Parish Sheriffs Deputies were dispatched to a residence on Stafford Estates Subdivision Road, Gonzales, in reference to a residential burglary. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with the complainant who advised that when he arrived at his fathers residence, he observed that the front door was wide open.

The complainant also advised that there were multiple miscellaneous items missing from throughout the residence. Investigators dusted for fingerprints and were able to swab a small amount of blood on a piece of glass that had been broken during the burglary. The blood sample was sent to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab where it was analyzed for potential DNA. The blood sample matched the DNA composition of Bret Millet. Deputies also located Millets identification card on the ground near the residence.

An arrest warrant was then issued for Millet. On July 7, 2015, sheriffs deputies made contact with Millet at his residence and advised him of the arrest warrant. While Millet was being placed into handcuffs, deputies observed that Millet was holding a crack pipe, or device commonly used for smoking crack cocaine. He was arrested and transported to the Ascension Parish jail where he was booked accordingly.

Guilty Pleas

During the week of Feb. 13 to Feb. 17, the following defendants pled guilty to various charges and were sentenced in the 23rd Judicial District Court, parishes of Ascension, Assumption and St. James.

Ascension Parish

Cyril Ezumezu, 1223 N. Coolidge Ave., Gonzales, 30, pled guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance. Sentencing was deferred pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation.

Morris Miles, 502 Front St. Donaldsonville, 24, pled guilty to Aggravated Battery and was sentenced to two years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

Travis Parent, 32588 Jasmin Lane, Denham Springs, 27, pled guilty to Negligent Homicide. Sentencing was deferred pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation.

David Holcombe, 12386 Cleo Road, Gonzales, 25, pled guilty to Simple Burglary and was sentenced to 10 years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

Grayln Leduff, 2444 Valley St., Baton Rouge, 45, pled guilty to Simple Burglary. Sentencing is set for March 27.

Delynn Ricks, 909 S Abe Ave., Gonzales, 24, pled guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance. Sentencing was deferred pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation.

Santos Torrez, 40436 Kathy St., Gonzales, 53, pled guilty on Nov. 28, 2016, to the charge of DWI Third Offense. On Feb. 14, Torrez was sentenced to one year with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

Frank Nelson, 7543 Tricia Court, New Orleans, 60, pled guilty to Bank Fraud. Sentencing was deferred pending a Pre-Sentence Investigation.

Michael Duplessis, 43017 Weber City Road, Gonzales, 34, pled guilty to Simple Burglary and was sentenced to 10 years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served.

Jerome Bougere, 133 Palm St., Donaldsonville, 39, pled guilty to Simple Kidnapping, Domestic Abuse Aggravated Assault and Domestic Abuse. The defendant was sentenced to five years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served. He is to serve three years of the imposed sentence, and the remaining two years are to be suspended. Upon release, the defendant is to be placed on two years supervised probation.

The above cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Shawn Bush and Phil Maples. Presiding over these matters was the Honorable Judge Thomas Kliebert.

Takeisha Scott, 42421 La., 30 Gonzales, 28, pled guilty to Unauthorized Entry of an Inhabited Dwelling and Simple Battery. On the charge of Unauthorized Entry of an Inhabited Dwelling, the defendant was sentenced to two years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on one year supervised probation. On the charge of Simple Battery, the defendant was sentenced to six months supervised probation. The imposed sentences are to run concurrent with one another.

Aquindice Garrison, 408 St. Patrick St., Donaldsonville, 26, pled guilty to Second Degree Battery and was sentenced to four years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on two years supervised probation.

Jesse Collins, 411 Blue Bird St., Gonzales, 41, pled guilty to Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance and was sentenced to five years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on five years supervised probation.

Bret Millet, 14490 Lake Crossing Drive, Gonzales, age 52, pled guilty to Simple Burglary, Theft of Goods Valued at $1500 or More, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. On the charge of Simple Burglary, the defendant was sentenced to six years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served. On the charge of Theft of Goods Valued at $1500 or more, the defendant was sentenced to five years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served. On the charge of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, the defendant was sentenced to six months in the parish jail with credit for time served. All of the imposed sentences are to run concurrent with one another.

John Porteous, 14446 Lake Crossing Drive Gonzales, 40, pled guilty to Simple Arson and was sentenced to five years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with credit for time served, to be suspended, and placed on two years supervised probation.

The above cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Joni Buquoi and Amy Colby. Presiding over these matters was the Honorable Judge Jason Verdigets.

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St. Amant native brings movie reviews to Ascension – Donaldsonville Chief

Posted: at 11:32 am

Brandie Richardson

A group of local film enthusiasts have chosen Ascension Parish as home base for their movie critic web series MovieShots.

Spearheaded by St. Amant native and Gonzales resident Kevin McQuarn, MovieShots started as a way to bring movie critiques to Ascension and surrounding areas.

"It's actually something that is kind of missing in our area," McQuarn said. "We thought there was a need for it."

Prior to the mid-summer flood, the reviews were filmed at the Robin Hood Bar, located in Sorrento. They were moved to a studio at McQuarn's house after the bar received a significant amount of flood damage. Now the group will begin filming on location at various businesses and restaurants in the surrounding areas, McQuarn said.

Some of the most recent high profile interviews the group has conducted have been with Tom Cruise, Vince Vaughn, Mel Gibson, and Cobie Smulders during Red Carpet events in New Orleans.

"We have a lot of really cool interviews. It's been a fun year."

There are some big things in the works for MovieShots, he added. The group has partnered with Baton Rouge news station WAFB to provide reviews and content for their entertainment site, the Louisiana weekend, along with the station's local, Amazon, and Apple TV apps.

MovieShots is made up of a dynamic group of individuals who dedicate their time to providing entertainment for Ascension. McQuarn, who prefers being behind the camera, was the entertainment editor and chief videographer for The Advocateand currently owns the Baton Rouge-based production company FantomLight Productions.

The reviewers are: Senior critic of the group, John Wirt, who has more than 26 years of reviewing experience at the Daytona Beach News JournalandThe Advocate; Christin Rankins, who is an aspiring actress with two major film credits to her name such as "Barbershop: The Next Cut;" and newcomer Vanessa Rivas, who began her transition into movie reviews in November.

As of right now, there is not one film studio in Ascension Parish. McQuarn said he wants to change that in the future, as his long-term goal is to either find a space for a studio or build a studio. He hopes to eventually film television commercials, programs, and promotions here.

"I want to bring it here. This is where I live, my kids go to school here. Ascension has always been home for me. If there's a way to bring what I love back home, I think that would be awesome!"

By the end of 2018 he anticipates to have a studio in Ascension for MovieShots to film and shoot. Reviews can be seen online at moviesatthebar.com, though beginning March 4 they will be on WBXH at 11 a.m. every Saturday.

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‘Mage the Ascension: Refuge’ is a thriller that will challenge your … – Android Community

Posted: at 11:32 am

Adventure games are there not just to entertain you but also to challenge your imagination and curiosity. Mage: The Ascension is a perfect example of a roleplaying game that will really make you think of the past, present, and the future. It is based on an interactive fiction written by Karin Tidbeck, a critically-acclaimed Swedish author whose works are in fantasy and weird fiction category.

Game is set in modern-day Sweden where you can learn and experience the social and political upheavals. Theres so much to learn about the society and the world today. What you see in the media arent always what they seem. This game will show you how difficult it is to live in a time where human consensus becomes a more dangerous battlefield than it is going to war.

In Mage: The Ascension, you are awakened to the power of True Magic. You have your beliefs but its about time you use them to your advantage and shape reality. Believe it or not, there is a secret war happening but its something subtle or maybe even unknown to other people around you. The world will only know the consequences of your actions and choices once they come into fruition.

You only need to choose which one is more important. Safety or sacrifice freedom? Decide for yourself. Its only one or the other.

Download Mage: The Ascension from the Google Play Store

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One huge step: Trump’s plans to privatize ‘low Earth orbit’ and send NASA into deep space – Yahoo News

Posted: at 11:30 am

In perhaps the most poetic passage from his inaugural address, President Trump said, We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space. So, how does Trump intend to do that?

Former Congressman Robert Walker, R-Pa., who was tapped to draft Trumps space policy during the campaign, spoke to Yahoo News about the administrations plan to place low Earth orbit missions predominantly in the hands of the private sector, with exceptions for military and intelligence satellites. The government would not compete with commercial interests in this region of space; instead, NASA would concentrate on deep-space exploration with the long-term goal of having humans explore the entire solar system by the 22nd century.

A number of private entities, such as Axiom Space and Bigelow Aerospace, are interested in creating commercial space stations and have technologies under development such as constellations of satellites for Earth observation or new communications tools that they believe can be profitable in low Earth orbit, the region of space up to an altitude of about 1,200 miles. Its the easiest orbit to enter and maintain. The International Space Station (ISS) is in low Earth orbit.

There are already commercial organizations prepared to lift supplies that NASA needs for deep-space exploration into low Earth orbit for assembly.

As we look toward going back to the moon, going to Mars or further, well want to have space resources that would be assembled in orbit so we could make them large enough and capable enough to do real deep-space activities, Walker said.

Walker has extensive experience in the space sector. He was the first sitting member of Congress to receive NASAs Distinguished Service Medal, the agencys highest honor, and has been heavily involved in presidential commissions on the aerospace industrys future and space exploration.

Walker believes space policy must acknowledge that the space community is far bigger than NASA or the military and that private investors should take the opportunity to participate in achieving national goals. He is calling for the National Space Council, a policy-setting body disbanded in 1993, to be reconstituted under the leadership of the vice president to set national goals for all three stakeholders in space: commercial, military and civilian interests.

The questions to address, he said, are Whats the best way for us to access space in the future? And what opportunities exist if youre truly innovative about how your approach a space future?

Michael Suffredini, another recipient of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, has more than 30 years of human space flight experience, has managed the ISS for 10 years and is CEO and president of Axiom Space, which is currently developing the first private, commercial space station. It is intended to be the successor to the ISS after its retirement in 2024.

Along with providing a facility for research, Axiom plans to offer human space flight programs for countries that wish to send their own astronauts into space and for space tourists who want to orbit the Earth for 7 to 10 days.

According to Suffredini, NASA has already been on a path toward commercializing low Earth orbit, and the Trump administration is interested in continuing this process.

We think the time is right for an almost completely from a development, launch and operations standpoint commercial platform in low Earth orbit that can replace what the ISS brings to the table when its ready to retire, Suffredini told Yahoo News. The Trump administrations plan forward really supports what were interested in doing.

Hes hopeful that the administration will support commercial endeavors moving out to cislunar space (the area between the Earth and the moon) as well as to the moon or even Mars. We can all debate, he said, how much commercial activity will happen beyond low Earth orbit in the near future.

[The administrations] thrust is to look at more and more ways to look at commercial entities to participate where they want to in space, Suffredini said.

Robert Bigelow, the founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace, said major aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Lockheed Martin the big guys have always had a lock on NASA and therefore on government money. He said privatizing low Earth orbit is a tremendous opportunity for the little guys to survive and build a thriving business.

This is a completely new era. The circumstances have been changed, because NASA is cash-poor, Bigelow said. Not only does it make sense, but its an absolute necessity.

Bigelow, who has argued that NASAs roughly $19 billion budget should be doubled, recalled conservations with William H. Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate at NASA, indicating that the agency does not have the resources to return humans to the moon (or accomplish similar lofty goals) without help from the private sector.

Bigelow Aerospace, based in North Las Vegas, Nev., develops expandable space station modules and other resources that could assist human space exploration whether to low Earth orbit, the moon, Mars or deep space. Bigelow said NASA and other national space agencies worldwide are prospective clients.

Aside from unmanned satellites, there are at this time no moneymaking, private operations in low Earth orbit, other than those catering to the ISS, such as the BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module).

There is nothing that private enterprise cant successfully take on, do more affordably and more quickly than any government operation can, Bigelow said. Private enterprise hasnt had the chance.

He said three things are necessary for any space activity: money, technology and legal permission, which itself requires political wherewithal.

The private sector invents technology and generates huge amounts of money, so the political permission is the stopping point, he continued. Up until the current time, aside from satellite communications, space has always been the domain of NASA as far as the United States is concerned. That is changing.

On Wednesday, Robert Lightfoot, the acting administrator for NASA, said in an agency update that the transition under the Trump administration is going smoothly. He also asked NASAs human exploration and operations mission directorate to look into the feasibility of adding astronauts to Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), the first planned flight of the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and second flight of the Orion spacecraft, accelerating human exploration in deep space. With EM-1, NASA is developing the technologies that would be needed for a journey to Mars.

While speaking to a conference of suppliers for the SLS and other projects, Lightfoot emphasized the importance of private and public space industries in reaching the countrys goals.

We must work with everyone to secure our leadership in space and we will, he said.

According to NASA, the SLS and Orion missions (together with record levels of private investment in space) would ensure the United States leadership role in exploring the cosmos and put us closer to unlocking the mysteries of space.

Back in October, the Trump campaign called Walker and asked him to draft its space policy. He agreed and said he could come up with one in a few days, but the Trump team said they needed it much faster. Walker and Peter Navarro, Trumps chief trade adviser, put together what they consider a cohesive space policy within 48 hours.

I was thrilled to help them. This has been a long-duration mission of mine to get our space program as robust as possible, and I have been particularly an advocate for commercial space for a long time, Walker said.

Navarro would run their ideas by Trumps team, and they would offer suggestions that ultimately wound up in the policy, such as a focus on hypersonics (speeds of Mach 5 and above).

Afterward, Trump would mention space as part of his larger vision for the country. Vice President Mike Pence also held a roundtable in Florida during the campaign in which he outlined a space program that resembled Walkers outline.

At a campaign rally on Oct. 25 in Sanford, Fla., roughly an hours drive from the Kennedy Space Center, Trump said, I will free NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low Earth orbit activity big deal. Instead, we will refocus its mission on space exploration. Under a Trump administration, Florida and America will lead the way into the stars.

He said the expansion of public-private partnerships would result in maximum investment in space exploration creating thousands of jobs.

Trump has mentioned space as one of the places where we can demonstrate that America is attaining its greatness, Walker said. As hes gone out to some of these rallies, postelection, space was in a couple of his remarks.

In December, Trump named Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and of SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer dedicated to colonizing Mars and reducing the cost of space transportation, to his Strategic and Policy Forum.

Still, certain aspects of Trumps space policy are bound to trouble liberals and scientists concerned about climate change. In an October op-ed for SpaceNews, Walker said NASA spends too much time on politically correct environmental monitoring.

Late last month, employees for more than a dozen government agencies reportedly launched rogue Twitter accounts to take a stance against what they see as Trumps attack on climate science research. These included scientists with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service and NASA.

Amid the barrage of Trump news, Walker said he has already seen some of his own ideas misconstrued and attacked. Walker said critics falsely accused him of wanting to eliminate NASAs Earth Science programs. He insists that he merely wanted to move them to another agency considered more appropriate for these projects, such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The suggestion was that we were eliminating the Earth Science programs that NASA is doing. And thats absolutely wrong. The reason for looking for a transfer was because we were taking NASA out of low Earth orbit, and most of the space-based assets for Earth Science are in low Earth orbit.

Though Walker is advising the Trump administration and drafted its space policy, he was not a formal member of the transition itself. With every new administration, some policies diverge from campaign rhetoric when confronted with the realities of governance. Consequently, as with other areas, its still too early to assess Trumps space initiatives.

Walker also serves on the board of directors for Space Adventures, a space tourism company, and was chairman of the board for the Space Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for the space industry.

Brendan Curry, the vice president of Washington operations at the Space Foundation, said the conversation around private operations in space is nothing new. For instance, commercial communication satellites have been operating and generating revenue in geostationary orbit, at an altitude of 22,300 miles, for decades.

The idea of making money in space has been around almost as long as the Space Age has, he said.

NASAs commercial crew and cargo program, established in 2004 under former President George W. Bush, enjoys bipartisan support. Curry does not see any political efforts to derail or curtail it but said policymakers will need to account for the ISSs planned retirement. This raises a slew of questions: Should it be extended? Should there be a successor platform?

Were asking these companies to make investments in systems and capabilities to go to a destination that might not be around after 2024, he said, so weve got to decide: Are there going to be other opportunities for these companies to develop or maintain systems and capabilities to go to low Earth orbit to provide private services or a service to the federal government.

Robert Jacobs, the deputy associate administrator for NASAs office of communications, told Yahoo News that the agency has helped to create a robust commercial space economy by turning orbital resupply missions for the ISS over to commercial industry. He also said that NASA will soon return to the launching of American astronauts from U.S. soil aboard commercial spacecraft, as the agency focuses on pushing human and robotic exploration further into the solar system.

President Trump said in his inaugural address that we will unlock the mysteries of space, Jacobs said. Accordingly, it is imperative to the mission of this agency that we continue to work hard to do just that.

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One huge step: Trump's plans to privatize 'low Earth orbit' and send NASA into deep space - Yahoo News

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Tech.Co Top Stories: Birthdays, Nanotech, Snapchat, and Black History Month – Tech.Co

Posted: at 11:29 am

February 17, 2017 5:50 pm

Sure, the weekend is a time for relaxing. After a long week of work, theres nothing better than sitting back with a binge-worthy Netflix show and vegging out until Monday morning. However, if you missed out on some of Tech.Cos top stories this week, wouldnt you rather catch up on those? Well, now you can thanks to this super handy list of the biggest stories of the week. From the future of marketing on Snapchat to the best ways to celebrate Black History Month, we really hit all the bases in the last few days. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the top stories from Tech.Co!

Remember! Apply now to Tech.Cos Startup of the Yearcompetition, which will give you a chance to join us atInnovate! and Celebrate 2017! Register now and get ready for a fantastic 3-day journey.

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Conor is a writer, comedian and world-renowned sweetheart. He has been writing since first grade when his novel "A Robot and Me" hit the top of the refrigerator. Since then, he has written coupons, training modules and listicles about his favorite bars for fun and paychecks alike. His background in comedy ranges from stand-up to sketch, and he runs a very popular stand-up show in Chicago called Rat Pack Comedy, which he's very proud of. In his spare time, he thinks about how to properly pronounce the word "colloquially." Conor is the Senior Writer at Tech.Co. You can email him at conor@tech.co.

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Andrew Rayel Announces ‘Moments’ Album & World Tour – Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)

Posted: at 11:27 am

Unstoppable. Ferocious. Magical. The live DJ-performances ofAndrew Rayel are an art form and all the worlds a stage. Rayels ever-expanding legions of admirers have been clamoring for his next full-length studio album since 2014s Find Your Harmony. After a three year period of nonstop touring and stints of intense focus in the recording studio, Rayel is ready to release his second studio album, Moments (Armada) on May 5th, accompanied by a world tour. The first single from the album is out now and its titled, Andrew Rayel featuring Eric Lumiere, Ill Be There.

Listen to Andrew Rayel feat. Eric Lumiere Ill Be There

From the angelic vocals of Emma Hewitt (My Reflection) and Christina Novelli (Lighthouse) to the swirling thrust of Max Vangeli (Heavy Love) and KhoMha (All Systems Down), Rayel harnesses his musics forward propulsion to get at the core of emotion that ties this album together. Add vocal contributions from Johnathan Mendelsohn (Forgiven, Home) and Eric Lumiere (Ill Be There) and the album is as well-suited for singing along to as it is for dancing. The first single from the album is Ill Be There featuring Eric Lumiere, a piano-laden number with reverberating bassline and a bouncy beat that drives the song forward.

The North American leg of the Moments tour kicks-off at Ultra Music Festival in Miami on March 26th on the A State of Trance (ASOT) stage. The tour features headlining DJ-performances at leading concert arenas, music festivals and nightclub venues from coast-to-coast with the first tour dates recently revealed via Andrew Rayels social media.

Tracklist for Andrew Rayels Moments:

01. Andrew Rayel Moments 02. Andrew Rayel feat. Eric Lumiere Ill Be There 03. Andrew Rayel & KhoMha All Systems Down 04. Andrew Rayel & ATB Connected 05. Andrew Rayel feat, Kristina Antuna Once In A Lifetime Love 06. Andrew Rayel feat. Emma Hewitt My Reflection 07. Andrew Rayel feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn Forgiven 08. Andrew Rayel & Max Vangeli feat. Kye Heavy Love 09. Andrew Rayel feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn Home 10. Andrew Rayel & Jochen Miller feat. Hansen Thomas Take It All 11. Andrew Rayel Let It Be Forever 12. Andrew Rayel feat. Mike James Back To The Moment 13. Andrew Rayel & Christina Novelli Lighthouse 14. Andrew Rayel feat. Angelika Vee Never Let Me Go 15. Andrew Rayel Tacadum 16. Andrew Rayel with Digital X & Geert Huinink feat. Sylvia Tosun Winterburn

Co-Founder of Trance Hub, Curator of The Gathering events in India and ALT+TRANCE in Czech Republic. By day, a Digital Marketing Enthusiast with love for Food and Technology. By night, a dreamer who wants to grow the Trance scene in India.

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Andrew Rayel Announces 'Moments' Album & World Tour - Trance Hub (satire) (press release) (blog)

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